...The problem between Guatemala and Belize is more complicated than the border separating Iraq from Kuwait. Compared to each other, Guatemala is white, and Belize is black. Where decision making and history are concerned, the Guatemalan rulers and the Belizean upper classes are not “the same people” and do not have “the same aspirations.” This is because the Guatemalan oligarchy is neo-European and the Belizean top brass have different levels of African descent. Over the last twenty years or more, however, the oil companies which want to extract Belize’s oil revenues in the most peaceful and profitable manner, have sought in different ways to emphasize the similarities, the commonality of interests, between the long established ruling families and their friends in Guatemala, on the one hand, and the political/business elite which has emerged in Belize since independence in 1981, on the other....
The authorities arrested former President Alfonso Portillo on Tuesday on an extradition warrant from the United States, ending his four days on the run. On Monday, federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment charging that Mr. Portillo embezzled tens of millions of dollars during his presidency and laundered at least $6.5 million through American banks. Attorney General Amílcar Velásquez said Mr. Portillo was captured in the beach resort of Punta de Palma, near the border with Belize.
